by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

Free agency forever changed the economics of baseball. Now, nearly 40 years later, a new approach by many teams threatens to significantly alter it.

From Miguel Cabera getting the largest financial commitment in sports history to Mike Trout's record contract for a player so new to the game - both in the past week - baseball's best players are increasingly being kept off the open market.

"It's a multibillion-dollar industry, and we get rewarded for being able to do something that is special," says Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander, who watched teammate Cabrera get an eight-year extension that makes his contract worth $292 million over the next 10 years, a year after Verlander signed a seven-year, $180 million deal. "It's a good time to be an owner and a player, which is a good situation for baseball."

The industry is awash in money thanks to new national and regional television contracts - among other factors - as Major League Baseball revenues exceeded $8 billion last year. As a result, player salaries have escalated. Of the 20 most lucrative contracts in baseball history, 11 have been signed since December 2011, and four have come in the past four months.

And it's not just All-Stars who are cashing in. The average salary this season is $3.9 mllion, according to USA TODAY Sports' annual salary survey. That marks a 58% increase in the past decade. The Los Angeles Dodgers are doing their part with a record payroll of $241.1 million, followed by the New York Yankees ($208.8 million) and Philadelphia Phillies ($188.6 million.)

Because there is so much money, teams are using a larger chunk of it to sign their younger players to long-term contracts. The idea, which was made popular by the Cleveland Indians in the early 1990s, is to lock players into relatively affordable deals before they reach salary arbitration after three seasons or free agency after six years.

"It's cost certainty and it is talent certainty," says Atlanta Braves general manager Frank Wren, who in February committed more than $255 million to four players with less than 10 seasons combined of major-league service time, including first baseman Freddie Freeman, shortstop Andrelton Simmons and pitchers Craig Kimbrel and Julio Teheran.

"When you have a Freddie Freeman and you look over the horizon two years from now and he's a free agent, and you no longer have a No. 3 hitter, well, No. 3 hitters don't grow on trees. If you have two more guys lined up behind him that you really like, you may take a different approach."

As a result, free agent classes are suffering, with many top players' first foray into the free for all being delayed by several years.

"There are clubs trying to tie up their young talent at an early age, and once that happens, there's less of a pool of players at free agency," Wren says. "So we've seen diminished free agent classes over the last few years.

Trout, 22 and already in the discussion with Cabrera as the game's best player, was the subject of rampant speculation about the money he could command as a free agent after just two full seasons in the majors.

The answer will have to wait - though Trout has set a record.

The Los Angeles Angels bought out Trout's arbitration years and delayed his free agency for three more with a six-year, $144.5 million deal. The $33.25 million he'll get in each of the final three seasons of the contract is the game's highest annual salary ever.

And he'll still be just 29 when it ends, so another potential jackpot awaits - unlike Cabrera, who will be 40 at the conclusion of his contract.

It's easy to make a case Trout could have gotten a higher total over the next six years had he gone to arbitration and then hit the open market - if he kept producing and if he avoided injury. In that regard, these contracts can be a win-win for both sides.

"When the owner comes out and puts up these big numbers, like $33 million, it's hard to turn down," Trout said Saturday when the deal was announced.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Homer Bailey also says he found it impossible to pass up a nine-figure pay-day, so he agreed to a six-year, $105 million deal last month. The Reds locked up first baseman Joey Votto with a 10-year, $225 million contract last April as well.

"I'm comfortable with my teammates and my manager, you know where you're going to be," Bailey says. "It's pretty close to what I'd probably get in arbitration and on the open market and, this way, I don't have to do that."

Some players still prefer to test free agency, and they stand to gain even more in a diluted market. Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, has rejected a long-term offer and appears headed to the open market later this year.

The best of the rest among pending free agents, barring any more contracts, are pitchers Jon Lester, James Shields, Jake Peavy and Ervin Santana and San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval.

But, among the players in the top 10 in WAR (wins above replacement) in either league last season, Scherzer is the only one who can be certain of getting to free agency in the next two offseasons.

"For me, when they made their first offer I was like, 'Sign it now. I can't believe they're going to pay me this much money to play baseball,' " says Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who has an eight-year, $110 million contract that runs through 2021.

That approach is what teams are looking for because, of course, there's no guarantee of performance.

"It's a difficult decision because none of us is smart enough to know which ones are going to work out well," Wren says. "I can't tell you the number of meetings I've been in over the years and either a manager or a scout or a front-office person has said, 'I would be afraid to sign this guy to a long-term contract, because he needs that carrot every year.'"

Indeed if a player with a contract exceeding $150 million suffers a serious injury or a serious lack of interest, it can put many teams in a bind for several years.

"You have to have a genuine comfort that this player is going to continue to perform and be driven and work hard," Wren says. "That's not in everybody's DNA."